Socrates, who moved to Fiorentina to be able to read Alberto Gramsci’s literature, was willing to switch teams at half-time in his honor. In 1988 an amateur club from London had a friendly match with the ceremonial team SC Corinthians XI. But this club is so legendary that apart from Socrates, Wladmir and Rivellino are also willing to take part in the match.
The club is Corinthian-Casuals FC which has a long history as a football missionary. The match titled a father and son reunion ended with SC Corinthian XI’s victory with a single goal from Socrates himself. As mentioned above, Socrates changed sides to retainer Corinthian-Casuals FC in the second half.
Once upon a time, at the beginning of the late 19th century to the early 20th century, football was not what it is today. England alone is still full of amateur teams and the football climate has not yet been established in other countries. You could say it was the British people who were most responsible for spreading this modern football to other countries.
Often there are clubs founded by British expatriates like AC Milan or British school graduates like Athletic Bilbao. But there were times at that time clubs held tours to other countries or continents to just compete. One of the most famous is Corinthian. Since time immemorial, as a country that claims the birthplace of modern football, the England national team has become a soft bag for other countries. At that time England always lost against their own neighbors, Scotland. That’s what made Nicolas L. Jackson founded Corinthian in 1882.
He saw the majority of Scottish players strengthen Queens Park. Trying to imitate, build a team with the best quality players. Immediately Jackson gathered the best, most athletic, well-nourished amateur players to join Corinthian. As an amateur football club, Corinthian has an interesting ideological grip. They declare as an amateur club, will not play for any competition that rewards money for the winner. As a result, they only play in exhibition or charity matches, but that doesn’t mean they are a weak team.
Some say that in Corinthian’s heyday, if they wanted to join the FA Cup, they would have often won. They had beaten Blackburn 8-1 shortly after Blackburn won in the 1884 FA Cup final and had buried Bury 10-3 after the Greater Manchester club won in 1903. But winning money is not the main goal Corinthian was formed, their spirit is to spread values values of sportsmanship and fair play.
Due to amateur and professional disputes in the early 20th century, it was difficult for Corinthian to find a match due to the FA ban. Corinthian with Cambrigde and Oxford stood by the Amateur Football Association. Finally they chose to hold a world tour while spreading the spirit they uphold.
When in 1910 in Sao Paulo and Brazil, football was still a symbol of the sport of the bourgeois elite. The workers just watched as they gulped. Things then changed when the good Corinthian entourage came to compete against the best teams in the samba country.
They’ve beaten Fluminense and even Brazil’s own national team when they were in Rio de Janeiro. After that the father of Brazilian football, Chales Miller who was none other than a former Corinthian retainer who migrated to Brazil invited them to the Sao Paulo region for an exhibition with a local team. It was a coincidence that in the last match against Sao Paulo AC which was won 8-2 there were five friends of railroad workers who were watching. They were immediately fascinated by the Corinthian game and the values it brought.
After coming home from the game they clashed dreams and arguments to establish a football club representing the workers and the lower middle class. That year they also established their own club, named Sports Club Corinthians Paulista. In accordance with the name of the football missionary club that raised their spirits.
Furthermore, history has recorded how the journey of Corinthians Paulista. Became one of the most successful clubs in Brazil and a two-time Club World Cup winner (2000 & 2012). The relationship between Corinthian and Corinthians Paulista continues to be harmonious, the last time in 2015 they were again invited to a friendly match in celebration of their new stadium Corinthians Paulista.
Indeed Corinthian almost always rolls his opponents on every tour. Moreover, in those days knowledge of tactics and technique was uneven, but that didn’t stop Corinthian from spreading their spirit. When they toured Austria-Hungary in 1904 they were impressed of people’s spirit in Budapest, to the point where Corinthian donated a silver trophy as a prize for a local amateur competition. For the next three decades the competition was known as The Corinthian Cup.
The same thing they did when touring Scandinavia. So impressed with the enthusiasm in Sweden, again Corinthian donated the silver trophy for the development of local football. For several years the competition, known as the Corinthian Bowl, was the pinnacle of Swedish football’s prestige. But unfortunately Corinthian became a victim of the wheel of time. Their series of tours had to be hampered due to the World War and many of the players had to enter the military.
The impact was felt and exacerbated by the growing popularity of professional football, Corinthian, who relied on exhibition matches, was increasingly left behind by the audience. They finally played in the FA Cup in 1923 although they never achieved success. The situation got even more difficult when their home ground, The Crystal Palace, was engulfed in flames in 1936 leaving them a team without a homebase. While the amateur side of football is getting left behind making funding even more difficult. Corinthian finally gave up and ended its history in 1939 with the merger with Casuals FC. They formed a new club, Corinthian-Casuals FC.
They also took off their legendary white jersey which also inspired Real Madrid’s color to become Casuals FC’s signature pink-brown. Now Corinthian-Casuals FC is just one participant in the Isthmian League which is the seventh level of the English football pyramid. At least there is something left of the early Corinthian spirit, playing on the side of amateur football.
ASL
